The Sum of Him
by Squeeka Cuomo
Summary: Alice has never once been afraid of the man she calls her husband.


**The Sum of Him**

His skin is ravaged, covered with horrible scars that speak of an even more terrible past. They dominate his features, the heavy ridges stealing attention from his deep eyes and full lips. To those who don't know him, Jasper Hale looks like the most vicious of monsters. When other vampires see him for the first time, they respond instinctively, prepare to attack.

But not Alice.

Alice has never once been afraid of the man she calls her husband. She's never shrunk back in fear at the sight of the wounds covering his body. Since the first time she saw him in her mind, she knew that his skin was ravaged.

She also knew that those scars were not the sum of him. With each vision, she grew to love him and his scars more and more.

Though other vampires fear his scars and what they mean, she loves them. Loves them with all her heart. They are Jasper, and there is no way she can hate anything about him.

**Left Eyebrow**

Just above Jasper's left eyebrow is a small gash. Compared to some of the other scars on his face, it's relatively minor. Alice thinks it must have been a shallow scrape, because it's thin and smooth. Compared to the others, it's barely noticeable.

Her lips find their way to this particular scar quite often. She loves to press kisses into, and run her fingertips over, it. She adores the feel of the faint mark under her skin. But more than that, Alice loves the way her husband reacts, which is always the same.

No matter what's going on, no matter how upset he may be, whenever Alice kisses that scar, Jasper sighs deeply. The throaty exhale is followed by an intense wave of contentment spreading through her body. Secretly, Alice thinks his emotional response is involuntary. That he doesn't mean to send her that same feeling every single time. It's an emotion more powerful than anything she's ever felt, and deep down she knows it's not meant for her. In reality, it's an overflowing of his heart, and that never ceases to amaze her.

Jasper denies it, but she doesn't believe him.

The scar above his left eyebrow has always been her favorite.

**Lower Ribs**

Some of Jasper's worst scarring is along his torso and around his ribs, particularly around the sides and back.

Curious as to why that was, Alice asked him about them one day. His response was short, military in tone. "Newborns are unskilled and therefore go for the easy kill." He didn't say anything else, and she didn't need him to.

At the time, he was lying face down on their bed, his shirt long ago discarded. Sitting on the bed next to him, Alice's lips pursed in sadness. His eyes were far away, and she knew that, for the moment, he was gone. She didn't need a vision to tell her that her husband was thinking about his first few years as a vampire.

Tentatively, she reached out one of her tiny hands, and as gently as she could manage, she ran her fingers along the ravaged skin. But nothing, not even a vision, could have prepared her for his reaction.

Gasping, he rolled away from her touch. Alice's hand hung in mid-air as she stared at him, feelings of hurt and confusion washing over her. He'd never reacted to her in such a way before. Unable to speak, she pulled her hand back and turned to crawl off the bed.

But before she could get very far, a pair of very strong arms pulled her tiny body back. Crushed against him, but unable to look in her lover's eyes, she was surprised when a wave of amusement came from Jasper. With her eyes shut, she pressed her forehead against his chest as she gazed into the future. Before she could stop herself, a devious 'ah ha' escaped her lips.

Without looking up, or opening her eyes, Alice slipped her arm around Jasper's bare waist and allowed her fingertips to dance along his ribs. Already knowing what his next move would be, the pixie-like woman threw a leg over her husband's hip to keep him from escaping. As a low growl rumbled in his chest, Alice's delighted giggle filled the small room.

As it turned out, even Jasper Whitlock had a tickle spot. And it wasn't something she was soon to forget.

**Left Forearm**

They are only a few weeks old, but the scars on Jasper's left forearm are already blending in with the others. They aren't angry red gashes anymore; now they are pale ridges covering his flesh with a strange crescent-shaped webbing.

These are the only new scars that her husband has acquired in all of their many years together. And he got them trying to protect her from Victoria's army of newborns.

At the time, she'd called him, an "overprotective fool," and she still feels that way. She could protect herself, and they both know that. But still, he attempted to fight off anyone who so much as glanced in his wife's direction.

And because of that, his left forearm is now ravaged.

For her.

Because of her.

Yes, he's an overprotective fool when it comes to her. And he always will be. No matter how many times she proves that she can handle herself, he will try to protect her. And as much as it bothers her, as much as she hates him suffering because of her, Alice loves him even more for it.

**Bottom Lip**

Alice has sketched Jasper more times than she can remember.

Before she finally found him, she would draw him whenever she had a vision of him. Some of the drawings were full portraits detailing everything from the curls that twisted under his earlobes to the perfect half-moons of his fingernails. While other sketches focused on certain things like his eyes or nose.

There was, however, one feature that she focused on more than the others. One that she was always extra careful with whenever she put pencil to paper…

His lips. Specifically, the bottom.

It was fuller than the top, giving his mouth a permanent pout no matter how he was feeling. And right in the middle was a small dimple that Jasper would run his teeth over when he thought no one was watching. Alice didn't know when, but once, he'd bit down a little too hard, leaving a nearly invisible scar.

She would never tell Jasper, but mentally, she referred to it as his worry mark. And whenever she could, she would press her lips to that particular spot, wishing, with all of her heart, that she could soothe each and every one of her husband's worries with a simple kiss.

**Right Wrist**

On Jasper's right wrist, there are two perfect crescent-shaped scars. One on the front, and one on the back, they are two halves of the same bite.

Two halves of the same mouth.

Maria.

The vampire who had turned Jasper.

One night, Alice traced the mark, wondering why it looked so much worse than the rest. The other marks looked like exactly what they were. Sharp and jagged, they were unquestionably battle wounds. But this particular one was deeper, the welts that formed it larger than the others. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened.

She didn't ask her husband, but he picked up on her curiosity easily. Jasper didn't pull away from Alice's touch but instead, curled his hand into a fist. Of all his scars, this was his least favorite. When he spoke, his voice was flat, and his eyes were focused on the ceiling. "I told you that if Maria was displeased, she would punish me…"

Alice's fingers stopped moving; her gaze was trained on the scar, seeing it for what it really was.

"You'd be surprised at the amount of venom that one vampire can produce." Jasper pulled his hand away and rolled over onto his side, his back to Alice.

It was the only time they'd ever discussed that particular scar.

**Hands**

When they hold hands, Alice doesn't trace small circles into the back of Jasper's hand like others do. Instead, she runs her fingertips over the network of scars there. Sometimes it's conscious, other times not.

The wounds are varied. Some of them are flat and barely noticeable. Those ones, she has memorized. And then there are the deeper injuries that have left larger bumps behind, and Alice always spends extra time on those. Running her own smooth fingertips over these always makes her smile, and Jasper always tightens his grip in response.

With their fingers twisted together, Alice supposes she should hate all of the scars covering her husband's body. But she doesn't. With one exception, she loves each and every one of them. They are Jasper. They have made him the man she loves.

**Squeeka Cuomo's Notes  
**- This was originally written for the lj community "twilight20" (Prompt: Definition).  
- Disclaimer: Not mine.- The quote, "overprotective fool", is taken from page 569 of the American hard cover edition of "Eclipse".  
- Quack: Thank you for being such an awesome beta. I appreciate all of your help and input. (Even if you don't know what's supposed to be going on. :P)  
- As always, reviews are love.


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